Tag Archive for: Web Design Newmarket

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Does Your Website Have Traffic From European Countries?

Graphic of a man and a women touching different parts of the website on a screen. There is another man off the sign holding an EU flag and a megaphone to their mouth

As a website owner, it’s critical that you ensure you are in compliance with worldwide laws regarding website cookies. If your business website has traffic from European countries, take the time to consider whether you are meeting the EU minimum website cookies compliance standards. If not then it’s time to make the necessary updates to your site.

Who Needs to Comply with the European Cookie Law?

The EU cookie law applies to any website which attracts visitors from the EU. Even if your business is located in the US, Canada, or elsewhere in the world, you need to make sure you are meeting the minimum standards when you have EU visitors. In order to remain in compliance, your website should not load or save any cookies until the site visitors confirm their decision via your cookie consent form. This form needs to offer the option to decline cookies entirely, or you will be breaking this law.

When designing your cookie consent form, another part of the regulations in the EU is the colours and sizing of the buttons. You must not force or influence the actions of the visitors, so the accepting and declining buttons must be the same colour and size. Another regulation to keep in mind is that in Austria, the use of Google Analytics to track website usage became illegal in January 2022. At the moment, this only impacts Austria, but there’s a chance we may see other countries follow this trend in the future.

Different Types of Cookies

To remain in compliance with EU law, it’s critical that you are aware of what cookies are in terms of your website. Cookies are text files that contain smaller pieces of data to identify your computer within a network. The data that’s stored within the cookies will be created by your server when you connect, and it’s labelled with a unique ID for your computer. The server can then read your ID and know how to serve you best.

HTTP cookies are created by a web server when someone browses your website. They will then be placed on the device or computer by the user’s web browser, allowing web servers to store information on your device. They can be used to track a user’s activity or save information that they’ve previously entered online.

Another type of cookie that you may use on your website is an authentication cookie. These are used by web servers to check that a user is logged in and the account that they are using. This stops users from having to authenticate themselves on every single page that has sensitive information, offering a better user experience while keeping your site secure. Finally, tracking cookies are used to create long-term records of a user’s browsing history. These are non-essential cookies, and so you will need to ensure you are receiving informed consent from your website visitors for storing these on their devices.

As you can see, it’s critical for website owners to keep in compliance with EU laws when they are attracting visitors from European countries. To help you keep up to date with GDPR cookie compliance, we highly recommend using this WordPress plugin on your site.

Contact us today if you would like us to look into whether your website is complying with the EU laws.

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Take Your Shopify Store to the Next Level: Our Top Shopify Apps for Increasing Conversions

A graphic that has the shopify logo (A green shopping bag with a white S on it) with clouds around the bag. The title reads : "Take your shopify store to the next level: Our top shopify apps for increasing conversions."

As a Shopify store owner, there are many tools out there to help you increase conversions. There’s no denying that competition is stiff online, and the past year has been incredibly challenging for business owners. By using the Shopify apps we share below, you’ll find that you can boost your sales in no time at all.

Privy- Shopify Apps To Send Emails & Messages

Privy is one of the top eCommerce marketing platforms out there for Shopify store owners. It offers you the ability to send emails and SMS messages all from one place. On top of that, you’ll find that it’s a great option for running contests and building your email list. We really appreciate that it offers you the chance to record your Shopify conversions directly related to your Privy efforts. You’ll see your hard work pay off in no time at all.

Zipify

Building an attractive landing page is one of the key ways to convert customers to purchase your products or services. Zipify is a landing page builder which offers you templates that are proven to convert. The team at Zipify uses their own experience growing a successful eCommerce business to create the tools that Shopify owners need to enjoy an easier and more profitable life as a business owner. It’s suitable for first-time store owners and more experienced professionals and will help you to make the most of your Shopify store.

Social Photos – Shopify Apps That Links To Your Instagram

A picture is worth a thousand words. It’s crucial that you update your site and social media accounts with attractive images. Social Photos offers you the chance to curate social media photos of your products. This is particularly useful for apparel and home goods stores. By encouraging your customers to share your photos with this Shopify app, they will help to boost both sales and interest in your business. This app integrates with Instagram, so you can moderate your feed and have full control over your posts and tags.


GroWave

GroWave is one of the most impressive Shopify apps, which provides you with all of the tools you need in one place. It combines reviews, social proof, loyalty and rewards, and a wishlist feature. The loyalty and rewards features are ideal for anyone looking to increase the lifetime value of each customer. You can work to give each of your customers the VIP treatment, which will boost their loyalty to your brand. GroWave also helps you to simplify the buying process by offering you the chance to send personal reminders about sales, price drops, and items running out of stock on your site.

We know that increasing Shopify conversions is one of the biggest challenges for Shopify store owners. By using these Shopify apps, you’ll have all of the features you need to support you on your journey to increasing your conversions over the next few months. If you need help deciding what Shopify Apps to add to your website or need help installing them you can book a call with us here!

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Let’s Talk About Social Media Scheduling Apps

social media scheduling

It’s 2020. So, let’s face it, social media is HUGE in the world today. It is important to post meaningful content frequently; we recommend posting at least posting 2 times per week. With that being said, we understand that it can be difficult to remember to schedule these in with the busy lives that we all (especially entrepreneurs) live. This is where social media scheduling apps come in!

That’s why we are comparing 4 of the most popular social media scheduling apps.

Why Use a Social Media Scheduling App?

As we mentioned before, it can be difficult to keep up with a set schedule for social media as life is busy for all of us, and understandably so. With a social media scheduling app, you can keep your content flowing and generate a larger audience through the use of hashtags. If you dedicate just one hour each week to planning and scheduling your social media content, you can schedule an entire week’s worth of content and not have to worry about it again until the following week.  Wondering what to post about? Check out our blog on Social Media Content Solutions for Small Business.

Scheduling App #1: Planable.io

Planable is a great tool for social media scheduling. If you are an agency with multiple clients that you manage, Planable is definitely the best option for you. Their premium plan offers 5 workspaces all under one login and allow for up to 7 users. This means you can allow your clients permission to make changes, or upload their own imagesinto the shared workspace. Planable allows you to plan a post for a specific date and time and will notify your mobile device when it’s time to post. Planable is definitely a favourite of ours here at Rosewood. However, if you work on your own and wish to do the scheduling on your own, Planable may not be the right option for you. Enter, Later.com.

Starter Plan

 Premium Plan Enterprise Plan
  • $32.50/month
  • $82.50/month
  • Customized by Planable for you
  • 1 Workspace
  • 5 Workspaces
  • Custom Number of Workspaces
  • 3 Users
  • 7 Users
  • Custom Number of Users

*Please note that these prices are in USD*

Scheduling App #2: Later.com

Later is also a Rosewood team favourite. Unlike Planable, Later allows a free option. Who doesn’t love free?! With Later, you are able to have a visual Instagram planner to properly plan out how your feed will look. Later also offers an automatic publishing tool, this feature alone is worth its weight in gold. You simply schedule your posts for a specific date and time, and your posts will automatically go out for the set date and time. Keep in mind that as Facebook and Instagram change their APIs, you may need to refresh the connections. If you work on your own, Later.com is the best option for you.

Free

 Plus Premium Starter

Brand
  • For Individuals
  • For Solopreneurs
  • For Small Businesses
  • For Growing Companies
  • For Agencies and Large Teams
  • Free
  • $7.50/month
  • $16/month
  • $24/month
  • $41/month
  • 1 Profile per Social Platform
  • 30 posts per social platform
  • Allows you to add Instagram, Facebook, Pinterest, and Twitter
  • 1 Profile per Social Platform
  • 100 posts per social platform
  • Video Scheduling
  • IG Story Scheduling
  • Allows you to add Instagram, Facebook, Pinterest, and Twitter
  • 2 Profiles per Social Platform
  • 250 posts per social platform
  • Video Scheduling
  • IG Story Scheduling
  • Allows you to add Instagram, Facebook, Pinterest, and Twitter
  • Shows You the Best Time to Post
  • 3 Profiles per Social Platform
  • Unlimited posts per social platform
  • Video Scheduling
  • IG Story Scheduling
  • Allows you to add Instagram, Facebook, Pinterest, and Twitter
  • Shows You the Best Time to Post
  • 5 Profiles per Social Platform
  • Unlimited posts per social platform
  • Video Scheduling
  • IG Story Scheduling
  • Allows you to add Instagram, Facebook, Pinterest, and Twitter
  • Shows You the Best Time to Post

Scheduling App #3: Hootsuite

Hootsuite is a social media scheduling platform that has been around a long time. With Hootsuite, if you’re not using the professional plan, you’re paying a fairly large amount of money monthly to manage your social media in comparison to Planable and Later. Typically, we do not recommend Hootsuite as a social media scheduling platform to use. Hootsuite has a very confusing interface that isn’tmodernized; making it difficult for the average person to use. The platforms we’ve mentioned above are much more intuitive, seamless to use and less expensive.

Professional Plan

 Team Plan Business Plan
$29/month $129/month

$599/month
  • 10 social media profiles
  • Unlimited Scheduling
  • 1 User Profile
  • Auto Scheduling
  • 20 social media profiles
  • Unlimited Scheduling
  • 3 User Profiles
  • Auto Scheduling
  • 35 social media profiles
  • Unlimited Scheduling
  • Up to 10 User Profiles
  • Auto Scheduling

Scheduling App #4: Buffer

The last social media scheduling platform we’ll compare is Buffer. Buffer, like Hootsuite, has been around for several years and has a fairly difficult interface. We found Buffer difficult to use and not as user friendly as Planable and Later.

Pro Plan Premium Plan Business Plan
$15/month $65/month $99/month
8 Social Accounts

100 Scheduled Posts

1 User

Connects to most social media platforms (Instagram, Facebook, LinkedIn, etc)
  • 8 Social Accounts
  • 2000 Scheduled Posts
  • 2 Users
  • Connects to most social media platforms (Instagram, Facebook, LinkedIn, etc)
  • IG/FB Story Scheduling
  • Drafts management
  • 25 Social Accounts
  • 2000 Scheduled Posts
  • 6 Users
  • Connects to most social media platforms (Instagram, Facebook, LinkedIn, etc)
  • IG/FB Story Scheduling
  • Drafts management

Which Social Media Scheduling App Do We Recommend?

After looking into all of the above-mentioned social media scheduling platforms, we can say with confidence that Planable.io and Later.com are the best choices. If you’re a larger business that needs multiple social profiles, Planable is a great option for you. If you’re looking for something that is free of cost and doesn’t require multiple social profiles, Later is your best bet!

Let’s Connect

Rosewood is a full-service digital marketing agency outside Toronto dedicated to helping entrepreneurs and small businesses grow their online presence. We work with clients across North America and Europe to identify, strategize and reach their marketing goals!

You can join the conversation online on Instagram, Facebook and LinkedIn. Or contact us to chat about your marketing goals for 2020 or to discuss how Rosewood can assist you in building your website!

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Until next time,

Cassandra

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